Larger Than Life glosses are $26 each. “Regular” NARS glosses come in a frosted plastic tube; LTL glosses are in clear, shiny, hard plastic. They have a short, dense brush, which (by virtue of its length) is not very flexible. That’s great for precision application to your cupid’s bow, but you may have to “re-dip” to get all the product you need. The gloss itself is unscented, and feels slightly thick and not-as-sticky as you’d expect from a longwearing lipgloss. If you have chronically chapped lips, you’re probably going to like the comfort these provide.

Spring Break is a Sephora exclusive, a pale, milky peach/pink (it looks like a creme, though it has ultra fine gold shimmer in sunlight). Gold Digger is a very sheer nude peach with gold multicolored sparkles. Tiber is a brown-mauve. Odalisque is peach-pink. Piree is a warm pink. Como is a grape-rose with gold sparkles. Norma is warm, lush cherry red. Place Vendome is a bright, hot, warm red-pink. Coeur Sucre is cool Barbie pink with silver sparkles. Born This Way is a light, milky, pale, pastel lilac.

This is a quickie picture of me wearing Norma (I wasn’t expecting to post this, but since everyone on Twitter last night asked what I was wearing, I figured I’d better share). Norma is one of those pigmented-but-not-full-coverage glosses (like Viva Glam Cyndi). It’s a semi-sheer, juicy, glossy, shiny, super-pretty shade.

I know the whole world wears lipstick and gloss together, but I’m lazy, and I wear my lip products one at a time. Norma, by itself, is definitely a berry-red, a pink-red on me (sheer lip products do vary, person to person, because your natural lip color shows through the gloss a bit). That luscious color you see in the photo lasts 20-30 minutes, then it starts to fade (as lipgloss always does, when it spreads/settles). As it wears, it fades to a sheerer pink. I’d say I get about three hours of feeling I have lipgloss on.

Compared to MAC’s Pro Longwear Lipgloss, the NARS LTL glosses are glossier/shinier. MAC’s are a little more opaque, a little more like liquid lipstick in finish. MAC’s are also thicker and stickier.

I learned (from the internet) that “Rosie Lee” (not to be confused with Annabel Lee) is English slang for “cup of tea.” Rosie Lee (the polish) is a rather fantastic — and quick-drying, AlexandraRC says — dense pink glitter.

Glitters can be annoying to remove, but I read about this Incoco Instant Nail Polish Remover on Sparkly Vernis. (And it smells good, you say? I’d give it a try.)

Butter London polishes are $14 apiece.

Endless thanks to AlexandraRC for letting me publish her ever-amazing swatches. For more photos of this manicure, visit her post.

Also, speaking of Incoco, I am minorly obsessed with this nail sticker. Duuuuude.

The collection is hot, and for me evoked a sundrenched Caribbean island. Estee Lauder’s creative director Tom Pecheux says he was inspired by the Arizona desert. Either way, I feel warmer just looking at it. Topaz is a semi-precious gem that I first think of as yellow (though I’ve seen blue topaz as well). If, like me, you enjoy collecting random facts, click here to learn more about the gemstone.

The collection includes a Pure Color eyeshadow quint (possibly my favorite Lauder eyeshadow palette to-date) and their second ever Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee.

Pure Color Five Color Eyeshadow Palette 21 Topaz Mosaic is glorious. Every shade is so smooth and pigmented. The combination of colors is just neutral enough that I feel like I could wear it often, but includes shades I don’t already own (and suddenly need: orange, yellow). It’s versatile but not quirky or one-note. I really think this is the best Estee Lauder quint I can remember swatching.

The palette includes a satin pumpkin, a shimmery tawny golden sand, a satin daffodil yellow, a low-shimmer beige-peach, and a satin red wood-brown. It is $45, limited edition.

Modern Mercury (fall 2011) included Estee Lauder’s first Illuminating Powder Gelee, a shimmery “gel-powder” that could be applied wet or dry. Because it was the first of its kind, that sparkly beige-pink highlighter didn’t have a shade name.

This collection launches the second (also limited edition) Illuminating Powder Gelee, a shimmering, sparkling, warming golden copper highlight that can be used on eye or cheek. It’s 01 Topaz Chameleon, $40, and I swatched it dry (first lightly, then heavily, with a triangle sponge).

This collection introduces Pure Color Intense Kajal Eye Crayons, a chubby pencil eyeliner semi-inspired by the chalk-type kajal eyeliners you can so easily buy in India. The sales associate explained (and it makes sense) that the very sharp point will help you draw a more precise line.

Even though it’s a simple, basic black eyeliner (and maybe a silly thing to lust over), I adore 01 Dramatic Black. I tried it on at the counter and it went on so smoothly and easily. It was actually very easy to apply a thin black line to my inner rim (I tightlined with it, too). Since I applied in the afternoon on a cold day (difficult  to test heat-/humidity-proofing or wear time), I showered and napped in it — no fallout, no smudging.

The new Kajal Eye Crayon is not the same as taller, thinner Intense Kajal Eyeliner that just came out with the Cyber Eyes collection. These chubby crayons have a little less fallout, and they’re a little softer.

Whenever I see the word “kajal” or “kohl” on an eyeliner, I assume it’s meant to be used on the waterline (that it depends on the moisture of your eye to fix it). Kohls are usually smudgy when used on the upper lashline.

The Intense Kajal Crayons are $22 each, available in 01 Dramatic Black and 03 Dramatic Teal. And can you believe they’re limited edition?? Why oh why?

This collection includes three Sensuous Rouge lipsticks ($28, semi-sheer with a moisturizing core and a vanilla scent). 15 Sublime Nectar is new and limited edition, a sheer creme peach-pink. 03 Sensuous Nude and 02 Sultry Caramel are repromotes from the permanent line. (Sensuous Nude: a sheer peach caramel nude that I’m still in love with. Sultry Caramel: shimmery russet red-brown.)

There’s also a new, limited edition Pure Color lipgloss ($22.50). 50 Citron Kiss is sheer yellow with silver sparkles. As I learned with the yellow gloss in Alice + Olivia, yellow glosses settle down into a kind of honey color on the lips. Backstage at fashion week last September, Tom Pecheux explained that yellow gloss is the perfect transitional item to warm up your fall and winter lipsticks, and keep wearing them into spring. Try using it to tone down a too-bright red or pink.

There’s just one limited edition nail polish: 28 Teal Topaz ($19). I found a sales associate wearing it, and she agreed to be my hand model.

Teal Topaz is a teal creme that’s opaque in two coats (indoor lighting makes it look a little more green). I thought it reminded me of Ocean Dip from last summer’s MAC Surf Baby, but it’s deeper, more subdued, not as bright. The color also reminds me of this old Chevy I saw at a stoplight.

This collection is available everywhere Estee Lauder is sold, though NeimanMarcus.com is in gift right now (plus free shipping with code SHIPNM).

Do you love this collection as much as I do?

The collection includes one of Laura’s classic eye-and-cheek palettes (six shadows, two blushes — no lip products mixed in with the powders). The palette is $60, limited edition.

Buff Pearl is a beige-champagne-white satin. Tawny Apricot is a dusty rose satin. Rich Cocoa is a dark wood-/earth-brown matte. Pale Pink is a very whitened, very pale, ballet pink matte. African Violet is a shimmery violet-gold duochrome. Black Plum is a delightfully pigmented, dark, cool, dusty, muted, blackened blue-purple matte. Though these shades all feel really familiar, African Violet and Black Plum are the only two listed among Laura’s regular single eyeshadows.

Rose Desire and Fresh Peach are both new shades. Rose Desire is a blue (cool) rose pink; Fresh Peach is pinked peach with a few tiny sparkles (which give it a slight sheen).

The collection also features two Creme Cheek Colour blushes ($22). Oleander is actually a repromote from the permanent line. It’s a pigmented cool pink. Innocent Peach is a little more sheer. It’s a light peach-pink, and it’s limited edition.

There are three Sheer Lip Color lipsticks ($20). Baby Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose. Kissed Lips (new, limited edition) is coral pink. Nude Lips (repromote from the permanent line) is a warm rose-beige-nude.

Naked Apricot and Tempting Coral are both “Lip Shines,” and I’m not exactly sure how to describe them. Potted glosses? Potted gloss-balms? They’re $22 each, both limited edition. Naked Apricot is very, very sheer peach. Tempting Coral is more pigmented, a red-berry-rose with gold sparkles.

The two cake eyeliners and two Eye Basics cream eyeshadow bases are repromotes (follow the links to revisit their original swatch posts).

Cake eyeliner is a dry “puck” of pressed powder, activated by water or a product like Laura’s Tightline Activator. You wet your brush, then muddle it on the cake until you achieve a paste the consistency of shoe polish. Apply your eyeliner and the cake will dry back to its regular state, ready for the next application. As you probably already know, a new cake eyeliner can be used with either water or Activator, but once you’ve used it with Activator, it won’t work with water again.

Mahogany Brown is dark brown.  Charcoal Grey (neither charcoal nor grey, really) is more like an industrial/nautical blue-grey. Cake eyeliners are $22 (and Tightline Activator is $20).

Eye Basics are $24 each. They are water-resistant, crease-proof, semi-matte eyeshadow bases containing vitamins and something called “Eyebright,” all meant to reduce inflammation. Flax is a manila-folder yellow-beige. Wheat is peach.

There were originally three nail polishes in this collection (including the mint green the model is wearing), but production issues resulted in the polishes being cancelled. My local counter put three other polishes in the display (rather than leaving gaps), but I didn’t swatch them since they’re not really part of the collection.

Spring offers two new Color Design Eyeshadow Quints ($49). Tendresse includes a pale, sheer, pistachio green; a mint-chip/Irish Springs green satin; a blue-green teal satin; a high-shimmer white; and a black with very fine, fairy-green sparkles.

Rose Romance features a shimmery pale white-pink; a low-shimmer peach sherbet; a satin candy rose-pink; a shimmery white-pink peony (slightly more pink than the first shade in this quint); and a shimmery satin dark red-purple-brown.

The collection also includes a limited edition embossed powder, La Roseraie ($42). I swatched the two shades individually with sponge-tipped eyeshadow applicators, then blended them with a triangle sponge (light swatch, then heavy). The flower is a warm, light pink; the “background” is a soft white. This product could be a subtle white-pink highlight, or a soft, sheer, light pink blush (depending on your skintone and how much of the “flower” you use).

There are also two Blush Subtil shades ($30), and “Subtil” is the operative word — these aren’t super loud. 361 Cosmopolitan Pink is a medium pink. 134 Tangerine Tint is a soft, pinked peach/tangerine (and I LOVE it. Of course).

There are three spring lipsticks, and the first is a bit of a mystery. It’s a French Touch Absolu, which means it comes in slightly posher, slightly more compact packaging. It’s also a bit more expensive ($35). The display unit, the Lancome website, and Lancome customer service refer to this shade as 316 Cotton Candy. But the packaging (both the tester and the actual product) say 316 Soft Marshmallow. Weird, but the two names refer to the same color. The lipstick is a warm, sheer, pastel pink (cotton-candy-ish, you might say).

The other two lipsticks are L’Absolu Nu (same formula, “regular” lipstick packaging, $29.50). Sweet Marmalade is a sheer peach-pink (#318 according to the display). Rose Candy is a sheer flamingo/strawberry candy pink (#314 according to the display).

There are three Color Fever Glosses ($26), which felt cushiony and not-at-all-sticky on my arm. 386 Green Petal is a very, very sheer mint green (clear, really) with a mint-scent and a medium number of green sparkles. 387 Tangerine Petal is a warm whitened-pink with pink and gold sparkles. 388 Rose Petal is a pale lilac pink with silver sparkles.

Finally, there are two Le Stylo Waterproof eyeliners ($25.50, mechanical). 600 Blanc is matte white; 502 Green Petal is a sheeny, springy, seafoam green.

You can pick up this collection anywhere, but if you’re planning to order from Lancome-USA.com, use code NEWYEARLAN to receive a four-piece gift with your $45 purchase. Valid through the end of the month.

As we’ve already discussed extensively, I am enjoying a “blue period” when it comes to my nails. So I decided to start in the middle of the set, with Boyfriend Jeans. It’s a muted, Jasper-Johns-Flag, Colorado-sky, Israeli-coat-of-arms, faded-paint-on-a-fence blue creme. What do you think?

I’ve heard a rumor that Chanel will be rereleasing Coco Blue, Blue Boy, and Blue Rebel this summer (giving me another chance to compare them to my Nubar shades).

Nubar’s polishes are available on their website.

Eyeshadow trio Douce France (named after a 1942 song by French singer-songwriter Charles Trenet) includes a satin/matte pale white pink with very tiny silver sparkles (it would be matte, but the sparkles give it a satin finish), a warm carnation pink, and a very nicely pigmented matte cranberry. It’s $45, limited edition.

Paramaribo eyeshadow duo (named after the capital of the Republic of Suriname, the smallest independent country in South America and a former Dutch colony. Where are you NOW, Carmen Sandiego?) includes a frosty yellow-lime and a shimmery browned golden olive. The duo is $34, also limited edition.

It’s a good thing Lhasa is permanent, because otherwise I’d expect it to cause a riot. It’s a shimmery grey-purple, $24. The shadow is named after the high-altitude Tibetan city, home to several major Buddhist temples.

There’s a new, permanent Soft Touch Shadow Pencil: sheeny cobalt blue Dark Rite. It’s $24, and NARS recommends wearing it as shadow, as base for powder shadow, or as eyeliner.

The collection also repromotes Larger Than Life eyeliner Abbey Road (peacock blue, $23).

Spring offers three lip choices, all new additions to the permanent line. Bilbao lipstick ($24, named after the city in Spain) is a warm brown-rose with a subtle sheen. It’s not a color I would normally swoon over, but it looks great paired with gloss.  Here’s a photo from a recent NARS makeover: Bilbao lipstick with Greek Holiday lipgloss.

Valparaiso Pure Matte Lipstick ($25, named after the city in Chile) is a red-violet-berry.

Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24, named after the flower) is a bright, warm, watermelon pink, my favorite color so far of this formula. It’s slightly staining, so color carefully.

There are two nail polishes in the spring collection. Diamond Life is limited edition, a shimmery pansy purple. Ecume (white creme) is a repromote. Both are $18.

There’s also a new, permanent addition to NARS’ blush lineup: cool, whitened, frozen-pink-with-super-tiny-silver-shimmers Gaiety. It’s $28, and I wish I owned the discontinued Chanel Narcisse so I could compare the two.

The collection also repromotes Albatross, the lovely, shimmery, permanent, white/gold highlighter. It’s also $28.

What will you be picking up from this collection?

Though I actually love everything about this collection, the number one thing you need to know about is the lips. I’ve been hunting these lipsticks so long it’s making me crazy — making me want to buy more than I think I would under less stressful shopping circumstances.

Pink Pigeon (Matte) is bright magenta (purple-pink). Scarlet Ibis (Matte, prononced “EYE biss”) is red-coral. Party Parrot (Matte) is intense watermelon pink. Flamingo (Lustre) is a sheer warm pink that’s surprisingly demure on the lips. Morange (Amplified Creme) is a regular permanent shade, construction-orange.

The lipliners are $14 each. Entertain Me and Embrace Me are actually limited edition repromotes (cross-promotes?) from the Tour de Fabulous collection; Redd is a regular, permanent shade.

The collection also includes five eyeshadows ($15 each).

Silver Gull (Velvet) is a matte dove-grey/smoke-grey matte with a few very tiny silver sparkles. I like the color, but the shadow is chalky. Robin’s Egg (Matte) happily reminds me of Cool Heat, a collection from the summer of 2008. If I had a time machine, revisiting Cool Heat would be one of my stops. Anyway, Robin’s Egg is a bright, matte, green teal. Diamond Dove (Matte) is another beautiful color, a dark brown matte taupe. It’s also chalky.

I expected Early Bird (Matte) to be like Free to Be, from Liberty of London (chalky) — but it’s so nice! Early Bird is a lovely, pigmented coral-pink. For the past year, I’ve been obsessed with the promo image from YSL’s spring 2011 collection. Now I want to try recreating the look using Early Bird.

Howzat (Satin) is also very nice: a softly shimmery charcoal repromoted from one of the Snowglobe eyeshadow palettes in the 2011 holiday collection.

There are three new, limited edition nail polishes (each $15). Oriele Orange is a red-orange coral. Sandpiper is a sheer trenchcoat beige. Toco Toucan is a cool fuchsia pink.

And last but definitely not least, this collection repromotes Too Chic Beauty Powder highlighter (previously released in Stylishly Yours). I had forgotten how beautiful this powder is. It’s a pearlescent, gently shimmery, delicate, pale golden shimmer that builds to a glowing golden white as you swatch it more heavily. If you blindfolded me, swatched this on my arm, then asked me to guess what it was, I think I would’ve guessed something much more expensive. Too Chic is $23.

If, like me, you have been stalking MAC’s website hoping they’ll restock, don’t fret. I’m planning to do some comparison swatching, and hopefully we’ll be able to match some of the Iris Apfel lipsticks with their closest permanent and pro relatives.

The Naturally collection is a fantasia on neutrals. MAC periodically revists this genre — their most beloved interpretation was probably 2008′s N Collection.

Naturally’s promo picture reminds me of a passage from Wuthering Heights: “bees humming dreamily about among the bloom, and the larks singing high up overhead, and the blue sky and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly.” It’s a quiet collection, but worth your attention.

Starting with the lips, there are four lipsticks ($14.50). A Perfect Day (Amplified Creme) is a muted, dusty, mauvey pink. Beach Sand (Cremesheen) is a warm tan, a rose-beige-brown. I think J.Crew might sell a knitted sweater in just this color. Sweet Sunrise (Lustre) is a pale, warm pink. Pillow Talk (Cremesheen, and a repromote from the Overnight Sensation Lip Bag in Nordstrom’s 2011 Anniversary Collection) is a warm, rosy brown.

There are also four Lipglass lipglosses ($14.50). Wee Coquette (originally released as a mini in 2010′s Tartan Tale and repromoted in MAC Me Over) is a very pale white-pink with silver sparkles. Fresh Air is warm, sheer pink with multicolored sparkles. Naked Space (a repromote from Neo Sci-Fi) is a soft orange with gold multicolored sparkles. Hot Spell is a warm, burned caramel with multicolored sparkles. All of the lipsticks and glosses are limited edition.

There are three new mineralize blushes ($22, limited edition). Subtle Breeze is a cool, candied rose. Fresh Honey is sherbet orange. Early Morning (my favorite) is a tropical red papaya, a sunrise color with a slight sheen.

Here are heavy swatches.

In what I think was a brilliant move, MAC also repromoted two Mineralize Skinfinish powders with this collection. Redhead and Blonde were two fabulous products to come out of a fabulous collection called Blonde, Brunette, Redhead. Redhead is peach with gold shimmer (and is the slightly more sparkly/shimmery of the two); Blonde is warm pink with a silvery sheen. These might be sheer blushes or highlighters, depending on your complexion. They are $28 each.

There are a handful of Mineralize Eyeshadows ($20). Daylight is a shimmery violet. In the Sun is a shimmery tomato with pale gold sparkles. Summer Haze is frosty peach-pink. The aptly named Cloudy Afternoon is a soft, cloudy, shimmery silver-grey. Twilight Falls is a gently sparkly, almost bruisey black-plum.

The collection also repromotes two permanent Eye Pencils ($14). I didn’t swatch Ebony because it’s black, but I thought you might not have seen Coffee. It’s a dark cool brown.

And last but not least, there’s a new brush in the collection. The 286 is $30 and it’s like a duo-fibre 224. It’s a ponytail fluffy blending brush. Black-and-white fibers usually mean a more sheer application of color (for example, the 187 or 188 stippling brushes might be good blush brushes if you have a heavy hand). Speaking of the 187, it’s repromoted in this collection, at its regular price of $42.

“Resort” is generally a summer-in-winter concept. Just as North America is collectively shivering in their wool socks, out sashays resort, to outfit Caribbean-yacht-bound jetsetters, or to tantalize those of us who merely want to indulge the fantasy.

This is Le Metier’s first resort collection, but I hope it becomes an annual tradition.

The collection includes three “big size” — a.k.a. “Ken size” — nail polishes (0.40 oz. compared to Le Metier’s usual 0.14 oz. These are $18 each). I suspect Le Metier is gradually moving to the larger format bottles, but they were first introduced in Ken’s “Koral” collection last summer, which is why I think of them as “Ken-size.”

Yield to Yellow is banana-skin yellow, slightly more saturated (more intense) than last summer’s Chanel Mimosa (nail swatches here). Not So Safe Orange is a jellyish tropical neon coral-orange. ShocKen Pink is a fluorescent, tropical, bright warm pink. Both Not So Safe Orange and ShocKen Pink dry quickly, to a semi-matte-plastic finish. If you want glossy, don’t skip the topcoat.

There are also two Sheer Brilliance lipglosses (each $32). I guess I prejudged these glosses based on their promo picture; I expected them to be far more opaque, more vivid, more saturated. These are reasonably heavy swatches.

HibisKiss reminds me of NARS’ Multiple Tints. It’s a sheer, jellyish, tropical pink. On my lips it’s a lovely sheer pink-raspberry that makes me think of a cocktail you might order on a beach somewhere. I really like it. Orange Juiced is a very sheer pale orange with gold sparkles. On my lips it’s so sheer it hardly has any color at all. If I squint, I think maybe it adds just the barest hint of warmth. Mostly it gives my lips a glossy finish and a medium number of gold sparkles.

The Jet Set resort collection will be on counters in February. Naturally, it will only be available at Neiman Marcus.